We Gotta Go
by katie.pierce23
Summary: "We gotta go Beth, we gotta go."
1. Chapter 1

**OMG. Is everyone else heartbroken right now? I had a feeling that Hershel was going to die this episode, but my gosh, it still absolutely broke my heart. Then when Lauren Cohan was near tears on Talking Dead, speaking about Hershel/Scott Wilson, the floodgates opened and I could not stop the tears!**

I am a huge Bethyl shipper –Yes I know there's quite the age gap between Daryl and Beth, but I still love it- and with Beth and Daryl taking off together I can imagine lots of other Bethyl shippers are dreaming of what could take place. 

** So here's a little one-shot that I thought up! Maybe I could turn it into something longer if you guys would like.**

As always, much love to you my lovelies :) 

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"We gotta go Beth…we gotta go."

Beth gripped the gun to her chest and ran as fast as she could next to Daryl as they dodged the trees and made their way deeper into the woods. _"Inhale, exhale, one foot in front of the other…We've all got jobs to do."_ She kept her eyes focused on the angel wings stitched onto Daryl's vest.

They ran for what seemed like hours, ran until Beth felt she could not take another step, and that the overwhelming horror and grief that she pushed back with every step was beginning to push against her, threatening to break over the wall she had put up around her emotions. Daryl suddenly turned to the left and held a hand up for her to stop. They both looked at the decapitated body with a sign _"Liar"_ nailed to its chest. Daryl readied his crossbow and gave Beth a pointed look and she placed the rifle against her shoulder and nodded as they crept into the clearing. Another decapitated body was slumped with the sign _"Rapist"_ also nailed to its chest.

"Daryl," She hissed to him and his sharp blue eyes snapped back to glance at her.

"Quiet."

"I don't think we should,"

"We need some place to stay for the night; you got a better idea?" His tone was harsh, and she again felt her emotions threaten to crash over her. Daryl, perceptive as usual, picked up on it as her face fell and he softened his voice and moved back beside her. "We'll make sure it's clear, then figure out what we're gonna do." He scanned her over and Beth bit her lip hard enough to break the skin and the iron taste of blood filled her mouth. The pain and sharpness of the taste of blood helped her refocus. They entered the cottage slowly and cautiously, the smell of decay harsh in the air, the bodies of walkers still on the floor. Daryl ensured the walkers were dead and together they dragged the bodies outside and then silently moved back into the cabin and barred the door. As she stepped away from the door, a wave of nausea hit Beth and she gasped and felt herself falling before strong arms wrapped around her and held her upright.

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Daryl cursed and swung the petite blonde up and glancing around deposited her on the dusty couch, growing more and more concerned when she began to hyperventilate, her eyes glassy.

"Beth," He gently shook her shoulders. "Beth you gotta breathe." He jumped when her tiny hands grasped onto his vest with surprising strength.

"My Daddy," She groaned and then she was sobbing, making the worst sounds that Daryl had ever heard and he awkwardly sat down beside her on the couch and then she was on his lap, her body convulsing, her tears soaking the skin on his neck, her sobs making his own chest tighten as images of Hershel's head nearly sliced off as he swayed on his knees.

Daryl awkwardly patted her back, as he had no words to comfort her and was not accustomed to being in such an intimate position with anyone. He held her as she cried, until her sobs turned into silent tears, her small frame trembling.

"We'll stay here for now and then we'll scout around for everyone else."

"They're all dead." Her voice was muffled into his neck.

"No they're not."

"Maggie went back in the prison to get Glen, I didn't see them."

"That's cause you were too busy trying to find the kids."

"I couldn't find any of them either…" Beth began to sob in earnest again. "Judie, oh poor Judie."

Daryl sighed and let his head fall back against the wall. Beth's tears had quieted again and he was beginning to feel claustrophobic with her still on his lap. He grasped her upper arms to move her over and froze when her thin arms suddenly wrapped around his neck and her big blue eyes were staring into his own, her face was close, much too close to his own.

"Just stay."

"I ain't leaving, just going to look around the cabin."

"No, I want you to stay, just stay, please,"

Beth felt her breathing quicken again and she wrapped her fingers into Daryl's hair, not wanting him to move, frantic and incapable of thinking rationally. "Please don't leave me." She did not register Daryl's wince at her painful grip on his hair.

"Okay, it's okay, calm down." He gently gripped her wrists and tugged her fingers out of his hair. He was shocked into remaining still when her lips suddenly pressed against his own and she was kissing him with enough force to bruise. When she moved so that her legs were straddling his own he was roused from his shock and he threw her off of his lap onto the couch and moved to the other end of the cabin, breathing heavily, staring at Beth like she was more dangerous than a walker.

On the couch Beth covered her face in her hands and began to cry again. "I'm sorry, I just wanted to feel something good." Her body ached, her head felt like it was going to split in half, her eyes were sore and swollen and her throat was tight. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry." She did not see Daryl slowly approaching her again, and was only alerted to him returning to her side when the couch dipped next to her.

"It's fine."

"Can you please just stay close? Just for tonight?"

"Alright."

Several hours later Daryl woke feeling warmer that usual, his body stiff and his spirit dropping as the events of the day came back to him. Glancing down at his side he studied Beth. She had fallen asleep within minutes of him rejoining her on the couch, physically and emotionally drained. Though highly uncomfortable, he had remained still when she had curled up against him, her hands clutching at his arm as if afraid he might slip away while she slept. He tentatively wrapped an arm around her and she sighed and curled into him even more, her arm moving to wrap around his torso.

"Daryl?" She murmured.

"I'm still here, go back to sleep."

"You won't leave?"

"Promise." He tightened his grip around her shoulders and closed his eyes again. "I promise I won't leave you."

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**This didn't turn out how I wanted it to, but hopefully some of you might enjoy reading it!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Woweee, I am completely overwhelmed by the response this little one shot had! All of your kind words came in such a wonderful time, as I had two deaths in my family, so your reviews and encouragement really warmed my heart- bless you my lovelies!**

I am going to try to continue this piece. I have absolutely no plan for it, and there may be some wait periods between updates, as my brain scrambles for what I think would happen next with this type/tone of story- so please be patient with me. As always, if there were something you would like to see in a chapter, or ideas as to where it should go, I would love to hear! 

**This chapter will be completely from Daryl's point of view- I think as you read it, you'll understand why I've done so this chapter (hopefully), rather than flip back and forth between him and Beth. **

**Anywho, your eyelids are probably drooping from all my blabbering, so on with the chapter!**

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Daryl woke with a stiff neck and slowly straightened, rolling his shoulders and popping his joints when he noticed Beth was no longer by his side. Daryl frantically jumped up from the couch, crossbow in hand and moved to the first door of the cabin and threw the door open, stopping short upon seeing Beth stretched out on her back on a small bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.

"Beth?"

"What?"

"You alright?"

"Fine."

He stood awkwardly in the doorway, unsure of how to proceed. Grieving, teenage girls were not his forte, and he was more scared of saying something that would set her off crying again than he was facing off against a crowd of walkers. His sharp blue eyes cut back to her slender figure and he gave her a once over. Her face was pale, paler than he had seen it before, and he could imagine it looked worse underneath the layer of dirt and ash that remained splotched on her skin through the track marks of tears. Her eyes were still swollen, and though she only spoke two words to him, her voice was hoarse.

"I'll take a quick look around, see if I can find us some water. Do you want to come?" He counted out a full 60 seconds, and when she did not respond he shut the door again and left her in peace. Pleased to find various containers around the cabin, he secured the front door as well as he could and after a short walk that left him still within sight of the cabin, he found a small crick with relatively clean looking water flowing through.

Daryl took his time walking back to the cabin, taking a better look at their surroundings that he had the time to do so. Whoever had been here before seemed to have been relatively successful at surviving, and should they need to, it would be a good place for them to stay as they planned their next course of action. He knocked before entering Beth's room again and found her unmoved on the bed.

"Have some water." He held the container out to her, but placed it on the floor next to the bed when she did not look at him or move to take it. "I'll try'n find something to eat in the woods. Should be some squirrel or somethin."

He waited hopefully for her to perk up at the thought of food, but again there was no response. Unease was settling into his hungry stomach, swishing around with the water he had just drunk. He had respected Hershel, considered him a friend, and he liked and respected Maggie- he felt it was his duty to make sure Beth was well taken care of. His feeling of unease increased when he was unable to shoot anything for them to eat, however he found an expired can of beans in one of the kitchen cabinets and he opened it and brought it back into Beth's bedroom, and tried to get her to sit up and eat, but her only response was to pull the blankets over her body and turn her back to him.

"Well I'll eat half and leave the rest here next to the water." Water he noticed that she had not touched. Throughout the rest of the day Daryl found himself pacing back and forth between the couch and the doorway of Beth's bedroom. Fruitlessly he tried to rouse her to sit up, to drink, to eat, do _anything_, but she remained unresponsive to him. As night fell, he dozed off and on, never at ease enough to fully relax into a restful sleep, often moving into the bedroom and pausing to listen for the sound of Beth's breathing before returning to the couch.

The next morning Daryl woke out of his light doze to shooting hunger pains, and after checking on Beth once more he moved out into the woods and was pleased when he managed to shoot two squirrels for them to eat. Hopeful that fresh meat would interest Beth, he skinned and cooked the animals over a small fire he lit in the yard, then quickly pulled the meat off the bones and set it out on a plate for her and moved into the bedroom, hopeful of her reaction.

"Beth, I've got breakfast for ya." She turned her head slightly and looked between him and the plate and then her head turned away again, staring at the wall.

Daryl felt a sting as if slapped and took a deep breath. "You gotta eat somethin'." She did not respond to him and he left the room, his concern making him all the more irritated. Setting the plate of meat down he paced the cabin for a few minutes.

Losing any semblance of calm and patience, Daryl stomped back into the bedroom and ripped the blankets off of her, pleased when she seemed to come alive and turned her head to glare at him.

"What is your problem?"

"You lying in here, not movin', not talkin'- that's my problem!"

"If I want to just lay here I will, aint none of your business."

"Like hell it aint. You get outta that bed, and outta this room or I'll drag you out myself." He paced in front of her, gesturing widely, feeling like he had when he had yelled at Carol those many, many months ago when overwhelmed with guilt of not finding Sophia. "Your Daddy'd be ashamed of you right now." He knew he had said the wrong thing when her pale face went red, the flush spreading down her neck, onto what was visible of her chest.

"What did you say to me?" Her voice was quiet, furious, and scarier than if she had screamed at the top of her lungs.

"You heard me."

"Don't you ever talk about my Daddy again!"

"Your sister is still alive out there somewhere, their trail probably goin' cold- and all you've done is lie around in this room, deciding you want to die. You're pathetic! You aint the only person to have ever lost someone out here."

Beth suddenly lunged from the bed with a cry, and her tiny fists were hitting him wherever she could reach. Daryl let her go for a minute, her hits not hitting with enough force to even leave a mark, but when she began to sob he hastily grabbed hold of her wrists and held her still.

"There's just no point, I just want to die." Her body went limp and she slumped against his chest, sobbing. Releasing her wrists Daryl once again found himself in the uncomfortable position of patting her back in comfort and he sighed, suddenly exhausted. He recalled back when they had been at the Greene farm, hearing of Beth's attempt at suicide; back when she hadn't even been a blip on his radar.

"You're not a quitter Beth."

"It just hurts too much." Her skinny arms were then wrapped around his middle, her sobs physically shaking his own body.

"It's a fresh wound, takes time ta heal." He tried to push her away from him and sighed when she clutched him all the more tightly. He shuffled over to the table and dragged her along with him and managed to push her back far enough to show her the container filled with water. "Drink some water, you'll feel better."

He was pleased when she slowly, but steadily drank a good amount of water, the motion calming her enough that she took a deep breath and attempted to dry her face. "Their trail isn't going cold."

"What'd you mean?"

"It's not going cold because there is no trail." Daryl stared at her in silence, unsure of how to respond.

"We know the bus got away."

"A bus full of old people and some kids; people who weren't even part of our original group. Maggie, Glen and Judie are dead and I don't care about any of the rest of them."

"You're talking stupid." His frustration grew again. "Those are still our people out there, and you don't know about Maggie and Glen."

"I don't want us to look for them."

Daryl exploded again and kicked at a chair. "Girl, what is wrong with you!"

"If they're walkers, and we find them, or if we find their bodies somewhere, I'll kill myself right then and there." She paused, her large blue eyes glaring at him.

"Your sister aint dead!"

"Then they can find us here!"

"I'm a better tracker than the lot'a them. I'll pick up a trail faster'n any of them."

"Then you can go and leave me, and break your promise." With that she turned on her heal, went back into the bedroom and slammed the door behind her. Daryl watched in shock and cursed, stomping outside to shoot something.

**Oh dear. I'm quite unsatisfied with this chapter, not where I really wanted it to go, but after seeing her father so brutally murdered, I think Beth could go into a dark place again as she grieves before she returns back to her strong, determined self. Blehhhh. I will keep writing and I hope the next chapter will be better! Please don't give up on me lovelies! **


	3. Chapter 3

**I was excited with all of the reviews and was inspired to write some more! Don't you hate it when after posting a chapter you read through it and notice all of the mistakes you missed? How embarrassing! Please ignore all previous mistakes, and continue to ignore the many more to come! **

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Within minutes of leaving the cabin Daryl turned at the sound of the front door opening and Beth walked in the opposite direction of where he was standing, ignoring him.

"Where you goin'?"

"I have to pee! Don't you dare follow me!" Beth yelled at him and promptly turned back to her retreat into the woods. Muttering Daryl waited for her to reemerge, muscled arms crossed, his blue eyes narrowed. She came back out of the trees quickly and he was surprised when she walked to stand next to him, and her face was calmer than he had seen it a few minutes before.

"I'm sorry." She glanced up at him out of the corner of her eye and they stood in silence for a few moments, scanning the area and enjoying the warmth of the sun. "Anything you want to say?" Daryl glanced down at her again, surprised when she tried to weakly smile at him.

"Not likely." She rolled her large blue eyes at him and disappeared back into the cabin. The rest of the day passed in silence, Daryl organizing around the property, piling wood, clearing away the decapitated corpses. Anytime he stealthily checked in the cabin to ensure Beth had not gone back into the bedroom, he was pleased to see her inhaling the squirrel meat enthusiastically and looking around the cabin, forming various piles of belongings on the floor that he did not question and looking through the cupboards. For dinner they split another can of expired beans and Beth retreated to her bedroom to sleep and Daryl took up residence on the couch.

The following morning Daryl woke and was surprised to see Beth already outside, staring up at the sky. From the doorway he saw a shudder go through her body and he cautiously made his way across the grass towards her.

That morning Beth had woke feeling better than she had the day before. Sorrow still weighed heavy in her stomach, but she forced herself out of the bed and a smile tugged at her lips when she was able to tiptoe passed Daryl, shocked he did not wake up, though she thought perhaps she should not have been surprised with how exhausted he looked. His greasy hair hung across his forehead and down over his eyes, his one arm was dangling off of the couch. The old couch sagged down under his weight, and she imagined he could not be overly comfortable. Glancing at one of her piles she had gathered around the cabin, she contemplated covering him with a blanket, but then chose not to, as the blankets were stained with blood and she did not want to chance waking him. She continued to tip toe outside, and was not out long before she heard the door creak open behind her and she quickly wiped her face clear of the few tears that had slipped down her cheeks.

Beth wrapped her arms around stomach and breathed deeply, trying to keep control of her emotions as he silently came to stand beside her, his ever-present crossbow in hand.

"Mornin'," He mumbled, glancing at her quickly with his sharp eyes.

"You must have been pretty tired if I was able to sneak passed you." She tried to lighten the tension between them with a teasing tone. She smiled when he glanced down at her again.

"Just need some more meat on yer bones, make your step heavier."

"Guess you'd better do some more hunting then."

"Yes ma'am." His expression softened and the corner of his mouth lifted in a smirk. "You gonna tell me what all the piles in there are?"

"I went through and organized everything. There's clothes in there we can use, blankets, lanterns, containers of oil, candles, all sorts of good things we'll need and be able to use. I'll need to wash it all first, but this was a good find. Some of the other piles are things we can get rid of, their pictures and that."

"Good work."

She smiled at him again, feeling more enthusiastic at his small praise and nod. "I think we could make a good thing of it here Daryl, I want to stay." She noticed his expression harden and his broad shoulders tense, and she took a deep breath and quickly continued. "I know you want to find everyone, but they took off in a bus, I don't know how we're going to track them like that. Besides, we're still pretty close to the prison here; if they come back looking for us, they're likely to search around this area and they'll find us. Besides, I really don't think we're going to find a place like this again- we'll definitely never find somewhere so well stocked as this." She waited, holding her breath as Daryl turned to stare at her, his expression giving nothing away.

"Alright. We'll stay here."

Daryl was pleased when she gave him a full smile, even her eyes crinkling around the corners. He scanned around the cabin again, his mind racing. They were quite secluded and sheltered, and it could be difficult for other people to stumble across them, but they had no security from incoming walkers. "We'll need to do something to make this place more secure, we need to find a car to make runs into a town, see if we can find any food. We need more weapons- all we got is my bow and yer gun." His immediate solution was to make their way back to the prison and chance the walkers to salvage any supplies they could. With Beth momentarily not crying, he wasn't willing to risk bringing it up at this point.

"Daryl, I know I will cry again, probably a lot, and I'm going to hurt for a long time, but I won't do that to you again- I won't shut down. You promised me you wouldn't leave me, and I'm not going to leave you either. My Daddy," Her voice cracked and she took a moment to steady herself. "Like Daddy always said, we've all got jobs to do."

Daryl nodded at her again to acknowledge her statement and promise and then jerked his head towards the creek. "The creek is right there for all the washin' yer plannin' on doin'. I'll be along the edge of the woods huntin'. Yell if you need me."

"Make sure you catch more this time, I'm hungry." With another cheeky smile she went back into the cabin and Daryl walked to the woods, exhausted, but feeling lighter at the strength Beth was showing. "We'll make it." He muttered to himself, eying up his first squirrel of the day.

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**Another chapter just for you lovelies! I know some of you may be getting bored waiting for some 'action' or more romance development between Bethyl, but I was reminded by a lovely reviewer that Norman has mentioned in interviews that he likes the 'slow grow/burn' for romance with Daryl, and I'm going to do my best to encompass that. Hopefully it remains interesting! While he's experienced so much growth over the seasons, Daryl I think is still slow to open up to people. I think he would very slowly fall in love with someone, but once he loves that girl, he's going to stick with her to the end. As always, I would love to hear your feedback :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**This chapter is dedicated to ****_fearless-dixon_****- your review made me laugh so hard and has a permanent place on my 'favourite moments' shelf in my mind palace. (Anyone know where this reference is from?) This chapter does not include the scene I will dedicate to you later on…but here you are anyways! **

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Beth was attempting to light a small fire in the yard when she saw Daryl returning from the edge of the woods, a few animals hanging from his belt. She turned her attention back to her pile of branches and cursed when she broke a second match.

"Here." He crouched down beside her and managed to light a flame with one of her previously broken matches, beginning the fire with one of the cabin's previous resident's photos. She watched as he patiently waited for the flame to catch, not withdrawing his fingers, though she knew they must have been burning at this point.

"Thanks, I have never been good at using matches."

"Still cleaning up?"

Beth nodded. "This is just the first armful I could carry out. Once I've dealt with the piles then I can go through and wash everything down." Beth eyed his catch. "Are you going to deal with those?"

Daryl pulled one of the squirrels from his belt and set it on the ground between them. "Ever skin one before?"

"Nope." Beth quickly stood, attempting to keep her nose from curling.

"Ready to learn?" Daryl was not oblivious to her attempts to move back towards the cabin and he tried not to smirk at her.

"Well, you're real good at it, and I would just mess it up…besides, there's so much more stuff to gather up yet. I'll just leave you to it." She beat a hasty retreat back into the cabin and spied out the window until she could see that Daryl had finished skinning the four squirrels he had shot.

Daryl finished slicing the meat and set it to cook over their small fire and glanced up at Beth as she returned to his side. "Thought you'd be some big tough farm girl."

"I always made such a fuss and cried so much that Daddy only killed anything when I wasn't home." They fell silent for a few minutes, crouched beside one another. "Funny how it's still easier to stick a blade through the head of something that used to be a person than it is to skin a squirrel."

Her large blue eyes fixed on Daryl solemnly and he rubbed at the hair on his chin before he answered. "They don't feel any pain, they're not really alive. Animals still are, even if we're going to keep on eating them. Aint nothing wrong with not wanting to kill a critter- even one as dumb as a squirrel." He startled when a tiny hand grasped his forearm and squeezed gently and he held still against his natural instinct to move away from the human contact.

"Thank you," Beth smiled over at him and removed her hand quickly, feeling his muscles tense beneath her. She turned her attention back to placing various items into the flames, glancing them over before letting them go into the heat. Old pictures showing the family smiling in their camo, fishing lines baited and ready, a few old dusty Christmas cards, an old newspaper that had began to mold. How quickly the lives of an entire family could be erased; their pictures, memories, belongings quickly succumbed to the flames.

She felt tears sting her eyes and she sniffed loudly and Daryl's head snapped towards her and took in her tears. "I'm sorry, I'm trying not to cry,"

"It's fine." Daryl averted his gaze and held out a dirty red handkerchief that he pulled from his back pocket and Beth gratefully wiped her face, not noticing that she wiped her face with an area of the fabric soiled with black grease.

"Thank you." Beth held the handkerchief back to him and missed the startled look Daryl gave her, his mouth dropping open, before he quickly snapped it shut and tried not to smirk.

They remained in companionable silence as they waited for the meat to cook and then ate it, each taking stock around the cabin and forming plans as to what they wished to do with the space.

"Do you know anything about windmills?"

"No." Daryl followed her gaze up to the old looking windmill behind the cabin.

"If we could some how figure out how to get it running, then we could have a little bit of power."

"First we need to make this place more walker proof."

"How?"

"Thinking we could start diggin' a ditch."

They both scanned the whole of the clearing and Beth tried to keep her expression from displaying her disbelief.

"A ditch…"

"Yeah."

"Around the whole property?"

"Not much point in doin' it only around half."

"Wouldn't we be better to try and start digging a garden or something?"

Daryl felt his patience growing thin. "You got a bunch of seeds I don't know about?" Daryl bit his tongue when her face fell.

"Fine." Beth grumpily stood to her feet and motioned for him to follow suit. "Well if we're going to dig lets do it now before it gets even hotter and then we'll wash up in the crick. Not getting the house dirtier than it is already after I've been cleaning it."

Smirking at her bossiness and at the large black smudge still covering her face Daryl nodded. "Yes ma'am."

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**I have to admit that I sort of, kind of, definitely do not like this chapter. I have hit a writers block the size of Mount Olympus. Have a general idea of a few things that I want to happen with this story, but no plan as to how to get there. Oh dear!**

**I know it's annoying when people do this, but any chance you all might want to read another Daryl story I'm writing? It's on my profile, titled "Redheaded Dixon". I know we're all Bethyl shippers, but maybe you'd all still enjoy it...maybe? *cricket, cricket***


	5. Chapter 5

**This chapter is dedicated to DarylDixon's Lover for being the first person who reviewed Chapter 4! Getting a few reviews was so thrilling I was motivated to attempt to write another chapter J That's right lovelies, I am now dedicating chapters to people…can you tell I used to work with kids and am used to bribery in order to get some kind of response?**

**_"Here my lovely Bethyl shippers…review and I'll dedicate a chapter to you…no? Not interested? Well…a sucker? Chocolate? Norman Reedus handcuffed to a bed?"_**

**Can you tell I've been storm stayed inside? I don't do well in Winter….**

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The first few moments of digging were fine. Beth followed Daryl's lead as to where he thought the ditch should be placed and the earth was fairly giving under the sharp head of the shovel. But digging was monotonous work; soon her shoulders were aching in ways they hadn't since she had once cleaned out horse stalls, her arms and hands ached and within minutes she felt sweat running down the valley of her spine. Worst of all was that the monotony left time for her to _think._ Time for her brain to relive over and over the scene of her Daddy forced to his knees in the dirt, then the sword slicing through his neck. She abruptly ran a few steps away and heaved up the squirrel meat they had shared before and she heard the repetitive thud of Daryl's shovel stop. She wiped her mouth off and shrugged at Daryl who has looking back at her.

"Sorry,"

"No skin off my back."

"That wasn't a comment on your cooking skills." She tried to smile at him and they both began to dig again. Silence. The silence was weighing down on her, making her feel as if her ears were ringing. They continued digging until her area was about six by 5 feet wide and as deep as her hip.

"Need a break?" Daryl wiped the sweat from his face glancing over at her and Beth nodded and thankfully dropped the shovel, climbed from her hole and dropped to the grass, Daryl soon dropping down beside her with a groan. Beth pointedly ignored how much larger of an area he had dug. Lying in the grass next to Daryl she had a chance to look him over as he sat scanning the tree line. He was absolutely filthy, sweat leaving track marks down his skin, though she imagined she wasn't much better. Though she and Daryl had been in the same group together for quite some time now, she knew relatively little about him. He had been gruff and unapproachable, what she in high school would have simply termed 'an angry redneck'.

However he had softened while they were at the prison, showing a gentleness she would not have expected when holding Judith, or speaking with Carl. He had become the main provider of meat while at the prison, never returning to the prison empty handed. She had always wondered if he and Carol had been involved, particularly when he became slightly more talkative that a Walker and became a leader on the council. Thinking of the council made her think of her Dad again and she forced the thought away angrily.

"I need to talk." Her blue eyes did not miss the slight tensing of his shoulders and the cautious way he slowly moved his head to look down at her.

"Fine." They remained in awkward silence for a moment and Beth sighed.

"I mean like carry on conversation while we dig, I can't handle the silence."

Daryl bit back a groan. Bad enough to be digging in the southern heat let alone having to attempt to make conversation. Beth's blue eyes were wide and hopeful and he scrambled to think of anything to say.

"It's easy, we can start off by playing twenty questions or something."

Daryl snorted and promptly stood and returned to his shovel. He began attacking his trench with gusto and only paused when he noticed Beth standing above him, biting her lip. He rolled his eyes and wearily rubbed his face. "Why do you wanna talk anyways?"

"Because if I'm talking I don't have time to think."

Immediately catching her meaning Daryl jerked his head towards her own smaller dug out area. "Fine. Only if you can dig and make noise at the same time." He rolled his eyes again at her bright smile as she jumped down and began digging.

"What's your middle name?"

At the unexpected question Daryl paused in his shoveling again and glanced over his shoulder at her. "What?"

"What's your middle name?" Beth also paused, looking confused at his hesitation.

"Why are you askin' me that?" He could not keep the defensiveness out of his tone, wishing he had never agreed to some stupid question game.

"That's the whole point of twenty questions, you ask people things and get to know them better." Her voice trailed off at his expression and he felt guilt stir in the pit of his stomach when she looked hurt and shook her head. "Never mind, we don't need to talk."

Sighing and thinking of how Merle would likely take the shovel to his skull if he saw Daryl now he gruffly bit out "I don't have one."

"Really? Why not?"

He shrugged and took up digging again.

"What's your favourite colour?"

"Dunno,"

"Well just pick one."

For a moment as he speared a hard clump of clay he contemplated feigning heat stroke to avoid any more questions. But then he thought of Hershel and his own vow to the dead man that he would look after his daughter and he attempted to keep his cool, taking out his annoyance on the clay rather than Beth.

"Blue."

"Like your eye colour blue, or sky blue, or a really dark indigo blue?"

Beth paused in her shoveling when the rhythmic sound of Daryl's stopped and glancing up he was scowling at her like she was a mosquito that had just bit him. She swallowed and quickly jumped to her next question. "How about…your birthday? What day was it on?" She attempted to smile and was pleased when he shook his head and returned to his digging.

"September 8th."

"How old are you?"

"Dunno for sure now, but I think thirty-five."

"What was your favourite kind of birthday cake?"

"Never had one."

Beth bit her tongue before asking the question she wanted to. She knew Daryl was a bit like the abused dogs her Daddy had sometimes seen; they held so much hurt and while they craved attention and a loving touch desperately, they knew only how to lash out and bite- the road to recovery was a slow and long one, and the scars never truly disappeared.

"What was your favourite thing to eat?"

"Burger."

"What was your job before?"

"Worked around. Was at a shop for a bit."

"Did you have a girlfriend or anything before?"

Daryl froze and turned to look at her in shock. "No." He was thankful the red on his face would be excused by the heat and exertion.

"What about Carol?"

"Carol?"

"Yeah,"

"What about Carol?"

Beth attempted not to smirk. She had never seen Daryl more uncomfortable, not even in her hazy memory of when she had kissed him. True he was older than her, but in some ways so much younger. "Were you two a couple?"

"No." His shock turned into a scowl. "Why's everything have to turn into a romance novel? No more questions until you've shoveled more."

Still smiling, Beth continued to observe him for a moment as he frantically returned to his work. Even if she wasn't allowed to ask him any more questions for a bit, at least she had something to think about. Who would have thought seeing a grown man so uncomfortable could be amusing?

* * *

**Just also going to add that for the purposes of this story, Beth is currently 19 years old.**

**Final thought- has anyone seen the new preview for upcoming WD episodes? It looks like Beth and Daryl don't stick together, so I'm freaking out a bit over that…check it out on the AMC website and let me know if you agree!**


End file.
